Keynote speaker Michael Meng will also give a presentation at TCUK17 on “Effects of visual signalling in screenshots: an eye tracking study”.

Another area I’m interested in is the proper usage and the design principles for screenshots in software documentation. I have recently completed an eye tracking study that examined the effect of different types of screenshots (screenshots with visual signaling to highlight relevant areas vs. simple screenshots without visual signaling) on task execution. The data seem to show that screenshots can actually support effective task execution, but only if they include signaling elements to guide visual attention. Thus, the second talk could outline the rationale behind the study, the method, selected results and the conclusion I believe can be drawn.

About Michael Meng

Michael studied German linguistics and psycholinguistics at the University of Jena (Germany) and the University of Edinburgh. After completing his PhD on syntactic processing during reading in 1998, he worked as a technical writer and later on as department manager of documentation and localization for an international software company. In 2012, Michael was appointed Professor of Applied Linguistics at Merseburg University of Applied Science, where he now teaches courses on text analysis, text production, research methods and cognitive psychology in the B. Eng. and M. A. programs in Technical Communication. He is member of tekom Germany and presents regularly at conferences such as the European Academic Colloquium on Technical Communication, Write the Docs or the annual tcworld/tekom conference.